Jeremiah Wells announces withdrawal from UFC Vegas 44 after cornerman tests positive for COVID-19

Jeremiah Wells and Warlley Alves | Zuffa LLC

The UFC Vegas 44 preliminary card has lost a fight.

Jeremiah Wells announced Saturday just hours before the start of tonight’s card that his welterweight bout with Jake Matthews has been cancelled due to one of Wells’ cornermen testing positive for COVID-19.

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Wells posted the following on Instagram:

Sorry everyone, I just found out that my fight is canceled due to exposure of Covid. My test result came back negative, but one of my corner men had a result of positive. Thank you to everyone that supported me, helped me with this fight camp and cheer me on

This was to be Wells’ second UFC appearance after making a successful debut as a short-notice opponent earlier this year. Wells defeated veteran Warlley Alves by knockout in just 30 seconds at UFC Vegas 30 this past June.

Matthews was looking to rebound from a submission loss to Sean Brady, which took place at UFC 259. Prior to that setback, the Australian standout had won three straight fights.

It is not yet known if there will be any changes to the UFC Vegas 44 start time, with the preliminary card still having seven bouts scheduled.

See the updated lineup below:

Main Card (ESPN, ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET)

Rob Font vs. Jose Aldo

Brad Riddell vs. Rafael Fiziev

Jimmy Crute vs. Jamahal Hill

Clay Guida vs. Leonardo Santos

Brendan Allen vs. Chris Curtis

Mickey Gall vs. Alex Morono

Preliminary Card (ESPN, ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET)

Maki Pitolo vs. Dusko Todorovic

Manel Kape vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov